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Week of 22 October 2001 Latest
Update: Friday, 05 July 2002 09:16 |
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Monday, 22 October 2001 [Last
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| 08:30 - Off
to the dentist this morning to have my fangs cleaned and polished. Ugh.
I'd forgotten about that appointment. And I'd also forgotten that Barbara
and I are going to the Cape
Fear Crime Festival later this week. So it's going to be even shorter
shrift around here this week than I'd thought.
We think of Duncan as a gentle, furry creature who curls up beside us on the sofa and rolls over on his back when he wants his tummy rubbed. But there is a different view of him. The prey's-eye view. Barbara and I had the dogs out yesterday afternoon. Duncan was over near the curb in our neighbor's yard, sniffing around a pile of leaves. Just then, a squirrel made the biggest (and last) mistake of its life. It jumped down from a tree, only 20 feet (6 metres) or so from Duncan. Duncan may be 6.5 years old and a middle-aged dog, but he can still accelerate from zero to top speed in about three steps. There's not a squirrel alive that can outrun a Border Collie with only a 20 foot head start. Duncan overran the squirrel, which went tumbling, righted itself, and took off for the far side of our neighbor's yard. Duncan soon caught up with it. He lowered his head, and Barbara and I heard a cry. I think it was a cry of victory, but it may have been one of pain, because the squirrel bit Duncan. But that didn't help it any, because Duncan grabbed it and gave it a single shake to break its neck. We called Duncan, who immediately abandoned his kill and came to us. Barbara found the blood on his snout where the squirrel had bitten his lip just over his front fang. We were concerned, of course, that the squirrel might have been rabid. We flooded the area with hydrogen peroxide and then packed it with antibiotic cream. I called our friend Sue, who is also a vet. She wasn't home, so I called the Emergency Vet Clinic. They said that squirrels don't carry rabies, and that we should just disinfect the bite and not worry about it. When Sue called back, she basically told us the same thing. Although she said that any warm-blooded animal could carry rabies, she said that it was almost unheard of for a squirrel to be rabid because whatever rabid animal bit them also killed them. Barbara called our vets this morning to ask whether she should bring Duncan in for a rabies booster or whatever. They said just to keep an eye on it and watch for swelling. Otherwise, there's nothing to worry about. Since then, Duncan has been prancing around with his "I'm-a-fearsome-predator" walk. He likes things the way they are, with food in his bowl at all times, but I'm sure it's comforting for him to know that if he had to he could catch his own food. Click here to read or post responses to this week's journal entries [Top] |
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Tuesday, 23 October 2001 [Last
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| 09:15 - I
survived the dentist. At least they didn't use the ultrasonic cleaner,
which always leaves me with a headache for the rest of the day.
It had to happen eventually. The Inquirer and The Register report that IBM has been hit with a class-action suit on behalf of users of its 75GXP series of hard drives, which have experienced an astonishingly high failure rate. I find it curious that many of the hardware enthusiast sites continue to recommend 75GXP drives. Oh, well. I have only one or two IBM drives remaining, and they're in non-critical systems. I continue to recommend only Seagate and Maxtor hard drives, both of which just keep running like the Duracell hare.
I've taken down the HardwareGuys.com web site temporarily. It was badly in need of a revamp, and I'll be working on that as I have time. There should be some updated stuff back up there shortly, but it will take me a while to get it all to where I want it. Click here to read or post responses to this week's journal entries [Top] |
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Wednesday, 24 October 2001 [Last
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| 08:47 - I
worked all day yesterday updating recommended system configurations for
the HardwareGuys.com web site (which is still on hiatus). I should have
those posted next week sometime, although I'm still dithering about a
dual-processor configuration.
The Register posted an interesting article yesterday, in which Microsoft claims that virus writers are analogous to terrorists. According to the Microsoft spokesman, people who react by abandoning Microsoft software in favor of more secure products "would only accomplish what the industrial terrorists want". Apparently, his argument is that we should all keep using Microsoft software despite the dangers because that's our patriotic duty. Huh? Microsoft must be getting desperate. Patriotism is, after all, the last refuge of a scoundrel. I've always said that Linux needed better applications if it were to become a serious alternative to Windows on the desktop. The minimum I need to consider using Linux as my primary desktop OS are an Office alternative, a decent web browser, and a good mail client. From all reports, StarOffice 6.0 is likely to be a usable Office alternative. I have Opera for Linux, which fills the web browser slot, and if for some reason I don't care for Opera running on Linux there's always Mozilla and several other alternatives. Now all I need is a mail client that's as good as Outlook. It won't be long now. Microsoft's (ahem) window of opportunity is disappearing.
Click here to read or post responses to this week's journal entries [Top] |
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| 08:47 - We'll
be leaving shortly for the Cape
Fear Crime Festival and won't be back until Monday. My brother should
arrive shortly to mom- and dog-sit. I told Barbara I expect this to be
another boring mystery writers' conference, with no actual murders. Every
time I read a mystery novel set at a mystery writers' conference, there's
at least one murder. Every time we go to an actual mystery writers'
conference, nothing happens. Oh, well. At least this time Barbara is on
one of the panels, so I can go and harass her from the audience.
We're all packed up and ready to go. I did have my Compaq Armada notebook packed, but then I realized that I didn't really need it for anything. So I'm going to have several days away from computers. No web browsing. No email. No writing. No nothing. I am taking the Olympus digital camera along, but that's it as far as technology. I tossed four or five books in my bag, which when I'm not working is only a one-day supply, but we are after all going to a mystery writers' conference, so hauling books there is taking the proverbial coals to Newcastle. We're also taking our grab-and-go telescope, just in case there's something to look at.
Barbara went out on a shopping expedition yesterday, and one of the things she came back with was a new Ferrari® toothbrush for me. All these years, I'd been using a standard Mark I manual toothbrush, but this is a more-power toothbrush, driven by two AA cells. I put some toothpaste on the removable spinning brush, turned it on, and stuck it in my mouth. I must admit that it was somewhat disconcerting to put what sounded like an angry hornet in my mouth, but it does seem to work.
For anyone who is interested, I've posted work-in-process versions of some of the new pages from the updated HardwareGuys.com site. You can get into the site using the temporary URL http://www.hardwareguys.com/index-new.html. About the only thing that's there at the moment is some of the system guides--Entry-Level, Basic, Mainstream, and Performance systems. The first three are pretty much complete (although I have a few changes left to make), but the last is still in progress. If you do read some or all of them, I'd appreciate any comments you may have. But do remember that these pages aren't final. Click here to read or post responses to this week's journal entries [Top] |
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Friday, 26 October 2001 [Last
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| We're out of town, at the Cape
Fear Crime Festival.
Click here to read or post responses to this week's journal entries [Top] |
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Saturday, 27 October 2001 [Last
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| We're out of town, at the Cape
Fear Crime Festival.
Click here to read or post responses to this week's journal entries [Top] |
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Sunday, 28 October 2001 [Last
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| We're out of town, at the Cape
Fear Crime Festival.
Click here to read or post responses to this week's journal entries [Top] |
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